Wednesday, March 06, 2013

I think I once booked Torched By Dominicans at KNUP’s…but they backed out.

The Dominican team tuned up for its World Baseball Classic opener Thursday in Puerto Rico by teeing off on Cole Hamels, a three-time all-star and former World Series MVP who has no desire to add WBC MVP to his resumé.

“It’s fun to watch,” Hamels said after being torched for 12 hits and eight runs in 22/3 innings. “I know to participate in something for your country is always an honor. But I just know I’m glad . . . the only decision I have to make is whether to play or not play. And I know I wouldn’t help the team out in the position I’m always at in spring training when the [WBC] games are going on.”

...After the Dominican Republic finished with 28 hits and a 15-2 victory, Hamels was asked whether he would be more inclined to participate in the WBC if it took place in midseason, when all his tools were sharpened. Even then he was less than lukewarm about the idea.

“It’s tough,” he said. “I know my allegiance is to the Phillies and this organization winning the World Series. I think winning the World Series is a little bit more important than whatever trophy they give for the World Baseball Classic. The World Series is ultimately the goal that I would go for no matter what they are throwing out there for the champions of the World Baseball Classic.”

That’s not the patriotic answer, but if you injected truth serum into the Phillies’ front-office personnel, they probably would tell you that’s exactly how they feel, too. As a fan, ask yourself this question: Would you rather see Hamels hoist the WBC trophy or another World Series trophy?

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I don't know if anyone will, or if you can, WJ, but how did the World Cup come to supercede league championships? I mean, I can't really see either being the obvious choice and good reasons for both. But I'm comfortable saying if I were a pro baseball player, I'd prefer to win the World Series and if I were a pro soccer player, I'd prefer to win the World Cup.

EDIT: That could well be because I'm an American and grew up thinking of the Series as "the championship" while I had no league to turn to. But if you were a little boy in England would you rather win the Premier League or the Cup?

But if you were a little boy in England would you rather win the Premier League or the Cup?

Actually for then English, it will mostly vary, depending on where in England you are from. Typically, the further north you get, the more you get into club only territory. It's mostly a reaction to England playing all it's home games at Wembley, so it's seen as an exclusively southerner thing by a lot of people up north. But the English are weird. In Germany it's definitely Deutschland über alles.

And the main reason it's so much more popular is simple history. It started when there was much less money involved in the sport, so it was easier to get everybody involved. And it was televised early on, at a time when not a lot of football was, and most people otherwise only got to see their team play at home in person. At many not even that. And it was the only way to see some of the great players from other leagues.

I guess parody does a lot, that and many country involved hating each other. Though I guess Korea / Japan kinda qualifies for that.

I guess the next possible step of the WBC we may need to consider the possibility of hosting the final rounds in different places each time, though the problem once again with that is the outside of the US, I think only Canada and Japan or mayyyybe South Korea would remotely be in the ball park to being able to host the final rounds.

I would think a lot of the Latin American countries could host - they play big baseball events there. But, to me, it seems like the need is to get the US onboard. It appears most of the other countries are fairly enthusiastic.

In England, most (but by no means all) hardcore supporters, ie those who actually go to games, put club before Country in my experience. And as FPH says, it's a regional thing to a certain extent. That said, the World Cup and England are still very popular, and they do not clash in terms of timing so you can enjoy both.

This is not the case in other sports. It's country over club for cricket and rugby union, by and large.

Wouldn't Skydome be the perfect place to test the feasibility of an international final round? Domed stadium so no weather issues...relatively speaking, just as close to get to for most of the non-US players as the current set up, and rated for MLB-level of play/crowds. If it was a success, the next round could be at one of the Japanese facilities...and by that time (6 year head start or nine if they mix in a US location) one of the other nations could create/adapt a venue suitable to host somewhere in the 6-12 year time frame.

Wouldn't Skydome be the perfect place to test the feasibility of an international final round? Domed stadium so no weather issues...relatively speaking, just as close to get to for most of the non-US players as the current set up, and rated for MLB-level of play/crowds. If it was a success, the next round could be at one of the Japanese facilities...and by that time (6 year head start or nine if they mix in a US location) one of the other nations could create/adapt a venue suitable to host somewhere in the 6-12 year time frame.

When Toronto last hosted the WBC, Canada vs USA drew 40,000+ fans and all the other games (including Canada's only other game) had 12,000 fans. Presumably a final round would sell more than the opening round, but that's not a great track record.

Also, Skydome is a relatively old stadium. I can't imagine Bud wanting to have the finals of his showcase event played there if he can avoid it. Canada's unlikely to be playing in the finals and that might be a consideration as well.

When Toronto last hosted the WBC, Canada vs USA drew 40,000+ fans and all the other games (including Canada's only other game) had 12,000 fans. Presumably a final round would sell more than the opening round, but that's not a great track record.

The double-elimination also played a role in that, since nobody knew when Canada was going to play other than that their first game was going to be against the USA (and I think that is one of the reasons why round 1 of this WBC became a round robin with a set schedule again- it might mean very small crowds for games in which the the home team isn't playing, but it ensures large crowds for when the Home Team is playing).

Also, Skydome is a relatively old stadium.

Jeez, I just realized that the Skydome is now the 7th oldest stadium in baseball. Wow.

I think the only exceptions to the "home team" rule have all either taken place in extremely diverse cities, the finals and semi-finals (which have... usually been in diverse cities like San Diego, LA or SF), or in cities that are sort of centrally located.

San Juan- smack dab in the middle of the Caribbean- has always had pretty good crowds, although the fact that it is a relatively small stadium means that even smaller crowds "fill it out" better than a small crowd in, say, Fukuoka or Toronto. Perhaps if there is a nicer stadium in Puerto Rico than Hiram Bithorn that would be a good spot to have finals.